


Kiss Kiss Fall in Love

by buoyantsaturn



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: High School AU, Kissing Booths, M/M, and some even slighter billie/valentina, bc im a disgrace, i named this before i found out what the title was from dont judge me, idk why i love that ship but i do, its just a ton a fluff ok, some very slight jason/piper, will probably kisses random people more times than he kisses nico in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 13:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10387188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: High School AU where Will works at a kissing booth for a school fundraiser





	

**Author's Note:**

> im supposed to be working on college auditions lol

Will Solace was in Nico’s eleventh grade English class. The two had never met, but through the class discussions, Nico had come to learn that not only was Will  _ very pretty, _ he was kind and smart and super involved in the school’s student government and a bunch of after school clubs. Oh, and possibly the most important: Will was openly bisexual, a fact that Nico didn’t think he would  _ ever _ have the courage to say outright to his entire class (except Nico’s coming out would be that he’s gay, of course, not bi).

It was also through his English class that Nico learned of some of the school’s upcoming fundraisers for the Spring Fling, the one that stuck out to Nico most being the weekend carnival. Will had announced, albeit a little awkwardly, that he would be one of the students running that kissing booth during the carnival.

Jason, the senior class vice president, had been the second person that Nico heard it from. “Did you hear we got approval from administration to have a kissing booth at the carnival?” he asked when he stopped by Nico’s locker at the end of the day. He waggled his eyebrows as he said, “A certain freckled blond volunteered for one of the shifts, you know.”

“Because the first time I make a move on him will be in front of the entire school, immediately after he’s kissed a hundred other people,” Nico stated, glaring into his locker. “I don’t think so.”

“You could catch him at the very start of his shift,” Jason suggested.

“It’s not happening, Grace,” Nico snapped, slamming his locker shut. “He probably doesn’t even like me, anyway.”

He started to walk away, hearing Jason shout behind him, “If it makes you feel any better, his friends made him do it!” Nico kept walking.

 

Jason had tried a few times to rope Nico into helping out with one of the booths (“Or you could help Will with setup and ask him out before the carnival even starts!”) but Nico shot him down every time. If not for Reyna, the senior class president and Nico’s best friend, he wouldn’t have even gone to the stupid carnival in the first place.

Reyna didn’t have to run any of the booths, like Jason and the rest of Nico’s friends, instead running around with a clipboard, making sure people got to their shifts on time and overall supervising the carnival. She dragged Nico along with her, claiming that he was decent company, but Nico felt like he was probably just slowing her down. 

Most frequently, they went by the kissing booth. Shifts for almost every other booth traded off every two hours, but the kissing booth shifts changed every hour, on the hour. 

There was a concert scheduled to happen in the next half hour that Reyna had to be at, so the two of them hurried toward the kissing booth so that Reyna could finish her rounds quickly and cross the carnival with enough time to spare. They ran up to the booth just as the shifts were changing - Piper and Will replacing a couple of seniors that Nico didn’t know the names of. 

“Piper, Will, good to go?” Reyna asked, crossing something off on her clipboard. “Don’t forget the pricing, there’s antiseptic wipes under the counter for after each kiss, and don’t do anything gross -  _ no tongue. _  Also, don’t let any  _customers_  do something gross. Your hour might be kind of slow due to the concert, but keep up the smiles just in case. I’ll see you at the end of your shift.” 

Reyna stepped away, but paused when she noticed Nico wasn’t following. “Nico?”

Nico shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “Go on ahead, I’m just slowing you down. Um, I’ll catch up with you at the concert.”

Reyna’s eyes flickered over to Will, already greeting his first customer. “If you say so. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Nico nodded, loitering awkwardly for a few moments before he heard the loud speaker crackle to life, the voice of Mr. Brunner, his English teacher and the student government advisor, announcing that the concert would be starting in five minutes.

Nico watched as the lines at every booth in sight flooded away in the direction of the concert, only a few people remaining. People in booths began pulling out their phones, no longer having any work to do without any customers. Nico almost pulled out his phone himself when he heard, “Hey, Nico!” from off to the side. 

Piper, from inside the kissing booth, was waving Nico over. “What’s up? Jason told me you weren’t gonna come tonight.”

Nico shrugged, stepping up to the booth. “Reyna made me. She’s been dragging me around all night to all the booths. I’m surprised we didn’t run into each other.”

Piper leaned forward, eyelashes fluttering as she said, “Well, since you’re here now, how about a kiss?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Please, why would I pay for a kiss when I can just wait until the next time you get drunk at Jason’s house then run around and kiss everybody?”

“Is that something that happens often?” Will asked, and Nico realized for the first time that neither Will or Piper had a line of customers. 

“Not as often as he makes it sound,” Piper insisted, reaching forward and shoving at Nico’s chest.

“Still pretty often,” Nico commented. He glanced over and saw that Will was watching him intently, a soft smile on his lips, chin propped up on his hand. Nico felt a flush rising on his cheeks.

“Ooh!  _ Now _ I know why you don’t want a kiss from me,” Piper said suddenly, wiggling her eyebrows at Nico.

“Because you’re dating my friend and I don’t want to spend money?” Nico offered.

Piper hummed. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of--”

“Piper.” Nico cut her off with a harsh glare. 

She rolled her eyes, slumping back in her seat with a huff.  _ “Fine.” _

Will’s face was covered with a look of confusion. “What--?”

“Excuse me,” someone said from behind Nico, causing him to jump out of the way. “Um, how much for a kiss?”

Nico stepped over to Will’s side of the booth as the customer stepped up to Piper, handing over a dollar in exchange for a kiss.

“So,” Will started, blinking up at Nico with that same soft smile. “You don’t want a kiss from Piper, but what about me?”

Nico’s breath caught in his throat and he had to stop himself from coughing. “Um.”

“I’ll even give you a discount,” Will offered, leaning forward slightly. “Fifty cents instead of a dollar?”

Nico couldn’t keep a small smile off his face, ducking his head in an effort to hide his expression. He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the ground as he asked, “How much for, um, a date instead?”

When Nico glanced up, Will was beaming.

 

* * *

 

The school decided to make the carnival an annual event, as long as the student government continued to put in the effort of running it. Will, the senior class vice president, had volunteered to organize the booth setup in hopes that he wouldn’t have to work during the actual carnival. Sure, going to the carnival probably wasn’t how Nico wanted to spend their anniversary, but Will was hoping it would be romantic at least.

Until one of the juniors called him to say that he was sick and wouldn’t be able to work a shift at the kissing booth the next day. Will, whose stress levels were already through the roof, thought he might cry. Instead, though, he took a few breaths and made a few calls, but no one that he called could take the shift. 

“Nico,” Will whispered when his phone abruptly stopped ringing in his ear, “I have a problem.”

Any other time, Will knew he would’ve been met with a snarky response, but Nico knew how stressed Will had been the past few weeks, and must’ve heard the frustration in his voice. “What’s wrong, Sunshine?”

“Damien called me to say he’s sick,” Will answered, “and can’t work at the kissing booth tomorrow. I called  _ everyone _ I could think of, but nobody can do it, they’re either working at another booth or they’re setting up for the concert. There’s  _ no one. _ If I can’t find someone else to do it in time, then...I think I’ll have to.”

Nico was quiet for a few moments. “But...it’s our anniversary.”

“I know, Darling,” Will responded, “I’m sorry. It’s not like I  _ want _ to do it, I don’t wanna kiss anybody else but  _ you, _ but we can’t just  _ not _ run the kissing booth, it brings in a lot of money for the fundraiser! If you really,  _ really _ don’t want me to do this, I promise I won’t, but--”

“Will,” Nico said softly. “It’s okay. I-- I  _ don’t _ want you to, but I get it. This is your responsibility, I understand.” He took a breath, and Will could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke again. “I’ll just have to scare off anyone that comes your way.”

Will laughed suddenly, allowing himself a second to calm down before asking, “Are you sure? Like one hundred percent, you’re not gonna kill me for ditching you for an hour?”

“I won’t kill you,” Nico promised. “You’ll just have to make it up to me.”

“Absolutely.”

 

Nico arrived at setup an hour late - not that he had to be there anyway, since he wasn’t a part of the student government - with Starbucks for himself and Will. He pulled Will away from his job of constructing one of the booths, the two of them instead taking a walk around the carnival to make sure everything else was being assembled properly. Will made sure to take mental note of each of the booths that seemed to catch Nico’s attention, setting up a list in his head of where the two of them would be going when the carnival opened that night.

They went for a late lunch down the road before the carnival opened, giving themselves enough time to return to the school to do one final lap of the booths, making sure they were all set up with people behind the counters. 

They could tell the second the carnival actually started - workers getting off their phones as customers swarmed around them, rising chatter surrounding Nico and Will as they continued down the increasingly crowded pathways. There seemed to be a lot more people there than the year before, which was great for the school, and it hopefully meant that these carnivals would keep happening for years to come. It made Will happy, knowing that this thing that brought him and Nico together would continue, even if Nico only pretended to enjoy it for Will’s sake.

At the start of the night, the two of them went to a booth where a group of sophomores were doing face painting. Will convinced Nico to get a bright yellow sun on his cheek, which clashed horribly with his dark clothes and leather jacket, and Will got a crescent moon that curved down from his cheekbone.

They moved on to booths full of cotton candy and kettle corn, ending up with sticky fingers by the time they made it to the game booths. They tried and failed to win each other prizes, Will only succeeding in winning Nico a tiny green stuffed alien. Will vowed, at that point, that he would win Nico a stuffed animal bigger than he was by the end of the night, but Nico simply rolled his eyes and pulled Will down the next aisle of booths.

It wasn’t long after that that Will had to make his way over to the kissing booth. Nico pulled him down for a kiss before he went, saying that he was going to drop off his prize at his car, and then he’d be over to scare customers away. “And I’d better not see catch anybody kissing you when I get there. Or before I do. And don’t test me, I’ll know if you were kissing somebody else.”

“No kissing at my job in the kissing booth,” Will stated with a nod. “Got it.”

Nico shoved him before pulling him back in for another kiss. “You’re an idiot.”

They went their separate ways, Nico heading toward the entrance and Will toward the kissing booth, shuffling his feet and hoping to delay as long as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that far away.

He stepped into the booth, taking a seat next to Billie Ng, a sophomore. “Why are you working here? Only juniors and seniors work in the kissing booth.”

“Chiara called me yesterday and said she couldn’t make it,” Billie answered. “Said she was sick, I think? I dunno, I told her I could take the shift, because I figured it didn’t matter that much, you know?”

Will frowned. There were reasons only the older students were allowed to work the kissing booth, and it was mostly to protect the younger kids. “You’re sixteen at least, right?”

Billie nodded. “Sixteen, and my parents gave me their permission. It’s not that big of a problem, right?”

“No, not for you,” Will responded. “For Chiara and Damien, yes, because I have a feeling the two of them are skipping this together.”

“Seriously?” Billie exclaimed. “Ugh! I am  _ so _ not letting Chiara copy my chemistry homework anymore.” She huffed, leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed.

Will dropped his elbow onto the counter, resting his head on his hand and gazing at the booth across from theirs with boredom in his eyes. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until someone walked up to the booth to give him something else to focus on, but unfortunately they only came for Billie, not him.

“Hi, Billie,” Valentina said softly, stepping up to the counter and fiddling with a dollar in her hand. “I didn’t realize you would be here.”

“Chiara asked me to cover for her,” Billie answered quickly. “Were you coming here for... someone else?”

Valentina shook her head quickly. “No, no, I heard you were here, and I thought--” She held out her dollar stiffly, right under Billie’s nose. “Can I have a kiss?”

Will tried to hide his smile as he watched the exchange between the two awkward girls, only looking away when he saw someone else step up to the counter.

Drew Tanaka stood before him with a dollar in her hand. “Boyfriend ditch you?” she asked with a sympathetic pout.

“Nah, I think he’s just kinda angry that I agreed to take a shift here, y’know?” Will answered, leaning forward. He knew he’d get in trouble if someone saw him turning away a customer, so he took the dollar from Drew, stuffing it into the donations jar between him and Billie on the counter, and leaned forward slightly. “He’ll be back soon. He promised to scare people away if they got too close to me, or something.”

“Well then, didn’t I get lucky to catch you unguarded?” Drew commented, bending down for a simple peck on the lips. “Don’t let your boy get too upset over this, okay? Don’t wanna lose him.”

“I think it’ll be fine,” Will responded.

“Oh, do you?” Nico asked, stepping up next to Drew with his arms crossed. He glanced over to her, raising an eyebrow and nodding once with a simple, “Drew.”

“Nico,” she said in reply. The two of them kept a straight face for only a few seconds longer before both breaking out into smiles. “I’ve gotta run to set up for the concert, but I’ll see you two around.”

Drew waved to them as she turned away, walking past booths towards the concert area. Nico stepped right up to the booth, hands planted firmly on the counter, leaning down until he and Will were almost nose to nose.

“I see you broke your promise already,” Nico commented.

Will leaned back a smidge, reaching under the counter for an antiseptic wipe, rubbing at his lips where he knew a smear of Drew’s lipstick remained. “Have I ever told you that I hate lipstick?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Nico told him. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and fingering the bills inside. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but--” he pulled out a twenty, slamming it down in the space between them. “I’m buying you out for the hour.”

Will rested his chin on his hand once more, swaying slightly closer to Nico with a tiny frown. “You think I’m only worth twenty bucks an hour?”

“Oh my god, do you want me to spend all my money on you?” Nico asked. “I mean, I was going to, but this isn’t what I had in mind.”

“Aww,” they heard from Billie beside them.

“I suppose, since you so kindly offered to spend more money on me later,” Will started, “you can have me for the hour. Come in here, though.”

Nico smiled brightly, stepping around to the door in the side of the booth, closing it behind himself and hopping up on the counter, right up against the wall so that Will could still see people as they passed by.

“So, how much money are you gonna spend on me?” Will asked, trailing a finger up and down Nico’s calf.

“Depends on how many things you wanted me to buy for you,” Nico stated, leaning back on his hands. He tilted his head to the side, spotting a new person approaching the booth.

“Hey, um, Will,” they started, but Nico cut them off quickly. 

“Will’s unavailable for the hour,” Nico told them over his shoulder. “Come back for somebody else’s shift.”

“I’ll get in trouble if people see me turning away customers,” Will reminded him.

“Good thing it’s me doing it, and not you,” Nico replied, and pushed himself forward. “And besides, I’ve already donated more money than you would’ve gotten in the hour.”

Will shrugged. “I might’ve gotten more. I did last year. I think you underestimate how pretty I am.”

“I would never,” Nico said. “But I think  _ you’re _ underestimating how  _ stupid _ it is that I’m paying money for you to spend time with me.”

“You probably didn’t have to.”

“But I did. Seeing you kiss Drew was a little weird. Seeing you kiss  _ anybody else _ would be really gross, so I wasn’t gonna let that happen.”

“How considerate.”

 

They were both very glad to see the end of Will’s shift, and Nico was pretty happy to have the chance to gross out Frank, the senior class president and the boy dating Nico’s younger sister, by making out with Will just as Frank was walking by.

Thankfully, the end of Will’s shift corresponded nicely with the start of the concert, meaning that they had plenty of time to cross the carnival and find a decent place to stand by the time it started. Nico was never really a fan of crowds, so Will pulled him off to the side where they had plenty of space.

The songs started out fast and loud, the audience jumping around and shouting, but they soon began to mellow out. At the first note of one of the slower songs, Will wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist, pulling him close and swaying in time with the music. Nico had laughed, tucking his face against Will’s chest and throwing his arms around Will’s neck. They stayed like that even after the songs began to pick up speed once more.

The end of the concert allowed about half an hour for final activities before the carnival would close up, and Nico demanded that he and Will go on the pathetic excuse for a ferris wheel that the school had rented. It was a tiny wheel, barely reaching the height of the school, but Nico insisted anyway. 

The two of them latched themselves into a seat, Nico tucking himself under one of Will’s arms, and watched the carnival continue on below them. It was much quieter up in the air, and possibly the slightest bit colder, but neither of them minded. 

“This might be the cheesiest, most cliche date we’ve ever been on,” Nico pointed out when their car stopped at the height of the wheel. “Thanks for this.”

“Thank  _ you,” _ Will corrected, pressing a kiss into Nico’s hair. “And cheesy cliche is a good thing. They’re only cliches because they  _ work.” _

“Uh huh, sure,” Nico mumbled, relaxing fully against Will’s side, taking his hand in between his own and tracing the lines of his palm.

“I love you,” Will whispered, kind of hoping he said it too quietly to be heard, and kind of really hoping that Nico couldn’t feel his heart pounding in his chest.

Nico hummed, smiling softly,  _ beautifully, _ down at Will’s fingers. “I love you, too.”

“Yeah?” Will breathed in awed disbelief.

Nico tipped his head up. “Of course,” he said, and pressed his lips to Will’s. “I even love you enough to stay late with you to tear down the booths after this is over. Does that prove it to you?”

“The smile on your face is proof enough,” Will told him.

_ “Oh my god,” _ Nico laughed, tucking his face against Will’s chest. “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I love you  _ so much, _ you huge, incredible dork.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed it!!! and i hope the fluff rotted like a single tooth at least i hope it was that decent


End file.
